Chapter 13 Since Ancient Times, Who Escapes Death?

Chapter 13: No One Escapes Death

Lake looked like a deer and acted like one too.

When it came to danger, Lake’s first instinct was to run.

But Meng Shu, who’d brushed up against death more times than he could count, had a way sharper sense of danger than Lake.

He didn’t think Ling Qingjue was all that dangerous—at worst, the guy had a sharp tongue.

Compared to real threats, Ling Qingjue was practically a saint.

To have an adventure like this before kicking the bucket.

Totally worth it.

His body slowly got some strength back. Meng Shu sat up from the stool and dug through the cabinet for ages before finally pulling out an old, beat-up phone.

He found a charger, his fingers shaking like crazy as he tried to plug it in, missing the socket a bunch of times.

He clicked his tongue, annoyed.

Finally, he got it in, and the phone lit up.

Lake followed behind him, barely containing his excitement: “Are you giving me this phone?”

“Yeah,” Meng Shu said, calm as ever. “I’ll put some cash on this phone for you. You’ve got two months left, so crash here for now.”

“Thanks, bro!” Lake got so hyped he grabbed Meng Shu’s shoulders, almost crushing his bones.

“Damn it, let go!” Meng Shu couldn’t handle it. “Are you maxed out on strength and speed?!”

He looked all frail on the outside, but the guy was freakishly strong!

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot you’re sick. In our world, nobody gets sick, so I’m not used to this place yet.” Lake hadn’t realized he almost crushed the guy and apologized all pitiful-like.

In his world, the laws protected everyone, shielding them from the pain of sickness and death.

One of his research topics here was how death affects people.

Meng Shu waved it off, not holding a grudge. “You came to this world alone—aren’t you scared something’ll go wrong? You can’t come back from the dead here.”

“Yeah, but other worlds are way worse. A few of my classmates got sent to a cultivation world and were hunted like monsters the second they landed.”

Lake let out a long sigh: “We’re really busting our asses just to get our diplomas!”

“So your world has school stress too.”

“Out of all the majors, us space mages have it the worst!”

Lake got all worked up just talking about it. “We have to memorize stuff, do practicals, write papers, and even come to other worlds for fieldwork!”

Meng Shu smiled helplessly. The phone had just booted up, so he cleared its memory while answering, “Didn’t you prep before coming here? How’d you end up homeless?”

“It’s my first time going far from home…” Lake’s eyes flickered, looking as pitiful as possible.

“Alright, alright, you’re just a clueless college kid.” Meng Shu chuckled, installed social apps on the phone, registered an account, and set up a family card.

Fifty bucks a day for the kid—pretty generous, right?

For these young kids, fifty bucks was enough to make them call you “daddy.”

Meng Shu thought it over and set the monthly limit on the card to fifteen hundred.

“Here, I’m being generous.” Meng Shu slid the phone across the table like an emperor handing out gold, even sitting up all grand-like.

But when Lake picked it up and saw the limit was fifteen hundred, his face dropped.

“Why’s it so little?”

Meng Shu gave a fake smile. “You looking for a beating?”

“…What kind of level is fifteen hundred?” Lake still hadn’t figured out prices in this world. “I saw a milk tea that costs thirty bucks a cup!”

“Is that milk tea made of gold or what?!”

“For real, for real! The shop downstairs from you sells it for thirty!” Lake clearly didn’t get how hard it is to make money; he just thought this was too little, not even enough for some snacks.

“You’ve been homeless this long and still don’t get that money’s hard to come by?”

“Is it really that hard to make money in your world?” Lake looked totally hopeless.

In his world, even a homeless person could make over ten grand a month picking up trash, plus all kinds of government handouts. They never had to worry about cash.

In fact, they’d even created a “beggar school,” treating begging like a legit job.

“It’s pretty hard. Money flows to those who don’t need it.” As Meng Shu said this, his brow twitched a little, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

Lake had never suffered a day in his life. Coming to this world, he’d been worn down to a shadow in just a month.

He couldn’t tell if fifteen hundred was a lot or a little. After thinking it over, he figured something was better than nothing, so he happily took it.

After a quick meal at home, Meng Shu took him downstairs for a haircut.

Lake bossed the barber around, pulling up a photo for reference. “Like this—you call this style a ‘micro-fragmented cover,’ right? Make it fluffy, a little thinner on the sides…”

The barber was a young guy with bleached hair. Without a word, he snipped twice, and Lake ran out of the barbershop crying.

Meng Shu couldn’t stop laughing. “Come on, I usually just get a buzz cut. You’re way too picky.”

Lake came home with a hacked-up haircut, sitting on a little stool, moping.

In this world, barbers didn’t even need a license to work. Anyone could open a shop and mess around with all kinds of membership schemes.

In Lake’s world, barbers had ranks. Anyone below level five wasn’t even allowed to open a shop—it was all about real, hard-earned skill.

Meng Shu grabbed a baseball cap and plopped it on Lake’s head. “Stop crying. Your hair’ll grow back in a few days… and it’s not that bad.”

Lake clutched his head. “Your world is so messed up! How can someone with that kind of skill open a shop?!”

He went in looking like a stud and came out looking like a convict.

Even someone as naturally good-looking as Meng Shu came out of the barbershop looking like an escaped convict.

He shrugged. “No license needed.”

Sitting by the bed, seeing it was getting late, he said, “So if I want to go to your world, I just need to chant the spell, right?”

“Yeah, just chant it. But since you’re not from that world, crossing over will drain your energy. You can stay for up to three days before you have to come back.” “Can I cross over now?”

Lake hesitated for a moment. "Normally, you'd only need to rest for an hour. But your body's in rough shape, and I'm worried that frequent crossings might mess with your health."

This body was a lost cause, and Meng Shu couldn't be bothered to save it.

Everyone dies sooner or later—early or late, it's all the same.

He might as well mess around with a cat before he kicks the bucket.

If he could conquer that legendary, impossible-to-get cat beauty, then after dying, he could brag to his ghost buddies all smug: "Hey, back in the day, there was this gorgeous person chasing after me, but I turned them down."

He cracked himself up with his own fantasy, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "So, how long do you think I need to rest?"

"At least seven hours."

"One hour here, one day there." Meng Shu calculated the time. "I think I'll head back first. If I suddenly disappear for seven days, Ling Qingjue will definitely think I bailed."

He had already been back in the real world for three hours.

In Ling Qingjue's eyes, this deadbeat who hadn't paid back his debt had already been gone for three days.

"It's only been three hours, you—"

Meng Shu cut him off, his tone seemingly gentle. "I think I've got this. At the very least, I need to go back and let him know. Thanks for the heads-up."

"Mika, Moska, Makabaka."